Company Briefs: Telenor

Telenor

Norway's Telenor and Malaysia's Axiata Group have ended talks on creating a telecoms joint venture with nearly 300 million customers across South Asia and South-east Asia, Telenor said yesterday.

"Due to some complexities involved in the proposed transaction, the parties have mutually agreed to end the discussions," Reuters reported Telenor as saying in a statement.

The deal would have created an entity worth US$40 billion (S$55.3 billion) including debt, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters in May, when the talks were first announced in what would have been the largest cross-border merger in Asia, excluding China and Japan.

"Both parties still acknowledge the strong strategic rationale of the proposed transaction. The parties do not rule out that a future transaction could be possible," Telenor said.

A deal would have combined the two firms' South Asian and South-east Asian operations. Telenor was to have owned a 56.5 per cent stake and Axiata the remaining 43.5 per cent with no cash changing hands, they had said.


Thomson Medical Group

Thomson Medical Group's executive director and chief executive Roy Quek is stepping down to pursue "other professional interests", but will remain a non-executive board director, said the group yesterday.

Mr Quek will relinquish his role on Sept 16 after about four years with Thomson Medical, as the mainboard-listed group seeks to expand its operations beyond its two strongholds in Singapore and Malaysia.

The 49-year-old joined Thomson Medical as executive chairman in 2015, and later led the expansion of the group's range of specialist services. He also oversaw the establishment of new platforms such as Thomson Wellth - a one-stop health and wellness service platform - and set up Thomson Medical's first flagship nodal centre in Paragon Medical Centre.

"The board would like to express its thanks and appreciation to Mr Quek for his service to the group and look forward to his continued contribution as a member of the board," said Thomson Medical in its statement.

Meanwhile, Thomson Medical has appointed Dr Wong Chiang Yin, a public health specialist, as special adviser to the company. Dr Wong is currently an independent director of RHT Health Trust. He has held senior positions in the public sector and is also a part-time senior consultant with Singapore's Ministry of Health.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 07, 2019, with the headline Company Briefs: Telenor. Subscribe